We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Shauntreis Sproles a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Shauntreis, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

In my early childhood years I was taught and have always embraced the moral principle “treat people how you would want to be treated.” Many of us have heard this saying, but my teaching was deeper than that. Instead of just being a fleeting
conversation, my mother and (late) maternal grandmother demonstrated this throughout my upbringing.
They both showed kindness to other children and adults in the neighborhood, and at times would invite others to come live with us.
Even though they were both disabled, they showed compassion to others. I also grew up with a disabled sibling so I learned compassion and how to take care of others early in life and have continued this trend into my adult life.

Further along these lines my mother would instill values like the following:
‘Treat everyone with dignity and respect, from the janitor of a company to the CEO.’
‘Everyone has value’ and ‘one’s position does not make them worthy of better treatment.’

It is these moral principles that I held onto, which helped to shape me into the person that I am today.
If I had to sum it up, I would say that my journey has definitely been a passion project.
I am passionate about helping and educating others. When I look back, I recall numerous hours/years that I have spent
volunteering my efforts, sharing my insights, and teaching people of all backgrounds to live kinder, healthier lives.

I believe that my upbringing as well as my call in life (and search thereof) has led me to constantly seek out opportunities where I can give to others, whether it be in the form of time or material things.

I guess as they say, ‘the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.’ No matter how hard we try, we will always be impacted by those who raise us, the environments we grow up in, and the influences closes to us. This is why it is so important that we educate ourselves, so that in turn we can educate our children for the better good.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Hi, my name is Shauntreis Sproles; owner of Shaun Finette Photography, which caters to clients interested in limited edition fine art, lifestyle portrait sessions, and brand work.

My fine art includes wildlife, landscapes, and more; my lifestyle portrait sessions include the areas of individuals, families, maternity, fashion, and sports; and my brand work is in the areas of product sessions and professional headshots.

I have promoted and photographed branded products, and performed branding services at events for companies in multiple areas including food/beverage/entertainment and everyday items.
My experience in business and marketing along with my study of photography provides me with expertise as I capture the angles and creative design that will best represent clients during your branding and lifestyle sessions.

During photo sessions with me, it may be helpful to think of our time together as a partnership. We will begin with a free consultation to discuss your vision, the day of your session, and post processing expectations. So don’t worry! I am there to guide you and do the heavy lifting; you basically just need to bring a smile, your vision, and your fun personality
and we will knock the shoot out of the park! I’m very flexible and easy to work with, but I’m also very meticulous when it comes to editing and providing you with your final product.

Much of my work is done in natural light and my editing style is aimed at providing a more authentic, but
enhanced finished product for my clients. This is because I believe that we should be comfortable showing our truest selves, while putting our best foot forward. My goal is to have you, the landscapes/scenes, or animals that I capture images of to be beautiful but not overdone! You (and the world around us) are unique and I want to highlight that!

Being a photographer who focuses on quality work, I have been selected by Rockstar Energy for their 2021 Rockon Contest which featured some of the most hardworking creatives in the industry. I have also been recognized by several magazines including “Voyage Phoenix”, and “Pretty and Black Owned.”

I enjoy doing collaborations with local businesses and non-profits as well. I have worked to bring awareness in order to inspire us to get out and socialize with one another and celebrate our lives. I’m always exploring ways to expand my reach and inspire positivity and empowerment.

Feel free to reach out if you’d like to connect for a photo session or for a collaboration or documentary project!

Shauntreis, Shaun Finette Photography

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

Success in photography is going to look different to different people, the same way it could be perceived a variety of ways in life.

In fact, this would be a good place to start when you are building your business. You need to evaluate your end goal. What are you trying to get out of doing photography? Is it simply the pleasure of taking images, is it for high level recognition; perhaps to share positive messages; or to capture current events as they unfold? It could be to challenge yourself to take adventures/to move out of your comfort zone; or to have your images be part of an exhibition at a museum. The thing is success in photography no matter it’s form, is about sharing with others and being apart of something bigger. It’s about recording and adding creative solutions to a subject of interest.

Despite the varied perceptions of what success in photography is, there are still some commonalities that need to exist.
A successful photographer will exhibit strong communication skills. They need to be able to consistently interact/network in numerous arenas (from other photographers/models to social platforms to B2B such as printing, etc.). This is important because they will need to build a reputation and promote themselves.

Another very important trait successful photographers need to possess is confidence. This step is all training your eye, learning your likes and dislikes, identifying your strengths and weaknesses, and learning to be okay with your own editing style, and ultimately becoming a unique creative able to stand on what you believe is art as long as it maintains some degrees of the technicalities for the field of photography.

Of course you will need to learn the skills of being a photographer from knowing your camera settings, being skilled on ISO, aperture, and shutter speed, learning your genre, knowing the appropriate lenses to use, understanding natural vs. controlled lighting/flash, learning the rules of photography and then learning how to break them, learning editing, and educating yourself on pricing your shoots and running your business. That said, understand that being a successful photographer takes time, consistency, and hard work, but if you are passionate you will keep going.

Over time you will see your growth, become comfortable with your creative genius, and develop a pattern of artwork that is unique to you. A photographer will gain confidence from all of these things intersecting and be propelled along the track of becoming successful with their work.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Every business must learn how to pivot in order to survive, whether that’s with their products/services offering, their advertising, etc., and my business is no different.

I actually had to pivot early on, moving from wanting to primarily shoot wildlife to also doing portrait sessions. I needed to expand my product line because it was going to be difficult to become successful solely as a wildlife photographer unless I was to get picked up by a larger company on a contract.

Another pivot I made was to move away from doing stock photography. The time and effort exchanged for selling the rights to my images was not a lucrative business option.

Currently, my focus is on my fine art and the photo session services.
Remaining flexible and being able to pivot has allowed me to better focus on my clients needs and grow my business.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.shaunfinettephotography.mypixieset.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/shaun_finette_photography
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/shaun.finettephotography/

Image Credits
Damaya Hudson Mekonnen Anebo Erika Johnson Keriann Nicole